It is probable that no other State in the Union contains so many
varieties of Europeans as does Wisconsin. About seventeen per cent of
our entire population were born in Germany; next in numbers come the
Scandinavians, natives of Great Britain, Irish, Canadians, Poles,
Bohemians, Hollanders, Russians, and French.
These different nationalities are scattered all over the State; often
they are found grouped in very large neighborhoods. Sometimes one of
these groups is so large that, with the American-born children, it
occupies entire townships, and practically controls the local churches
and schools, which are generally conducted in the foreign tongue. There
are extensive German, Scandinavian, and Welsh farming districts in our
State where one may travel far without hearing English spoken by any
one. Some crowded quarters of Milwaukee are wholly German in custom and
language; and there are other streets in that city where few but Poles,
Bohemians, or Russians can be found.
Although these foreign-born people, as is quite natural, generally cling
with tenacity to the language, the religion, and many of the customs in
which they were reared, it is noticeable that all of them are eager to
learn our methods of government, and to become good citizens; and their
children, when allowed to mingle freely with the youth of this country,
become so thoroughly Americanized that little if any difference can be
distinguished between them and those whose forefathers have lived here
for several generations past.
There is, however, hardly a family in Wisconsin which is not of European
origin. Some of us are descended from ancestors who chanced to come to
the New World at an earlier period than did the ancestors of others of
our fellow-citizens; that is all that distinguishes these "old American
families" from those more recently transplanted.
It is a very interesting study to watch the gradual evolution of a new
American race from the mingling on our soil of so many different
nationalities, just as the English race itself was slowly built up from
the old Britons, Saxons, Norsemen, and Norman French. But we must
remember that this "race amalgamation," although now proceeding upon a
larger scale than was probably ever witnessed before, has always been
going on in America since the earliest colonial days, when English,
French, Hollanders, Swedes, Scotch, and Irish were fused as in a melting
pot, for the production of the American types that we meet to-day.
A variety of reasons induced foreigners to come to Wisconsin in such
large numbers; they may, however, be classified under three heads,
political, economic, and religious. The political reason was
dissatisfaction with the government at home, chiefly because it
repressed all aspiration for liberty and forced young men to sacrifice
several of the best years of their lives by spending them in the army.
The most powerful economic reason was inability to earn a satisfactory
living in the fatherland, because worn-out soils, low prices for
produce, overcrowding of population, and excessive competition among
workmen resulted in starvation wages. The religious reason was the
disposition of European monarchs to interfere with men's right to
worship God as they pleased.
In 1830 there were serious political troubles in Germany, and thousands
of dissatisfied people emigrated from that country to America. Many of
the newcomers were young professional men of fine education and lofty
ideals. In those early days American society was somewhat crude,
especially upon the frontier. These spirited young Germans complained
that, both in religion and politics, the life of our people was sordid
and low, with little appreciation for the higher things of life; and
especially did they resent our popular lack of appreciation of their
countrymen.
Therefore, in 1835, there was formed in New York a society called
"Germania," which was to induce enough Germans to settle in some one of
the American States to be able to gain control of it and make it a
German State, with German life and manners, with German schools,
literature, and art, with German courts and assemblies, and with German
as the official language. A great deal of discussion followed, as to
which State should be chosen; some preferred Texas, others Oregon, but
most of the members wished some State in what was then called the
Northwest, between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. The
society disbanded without result; but the agitation to which it gave
rise was continued throughout many years on both sides of the ocean.
Wisconsin was strongly favored by most of the German writers on
immigration, especially about the time that it became prominent through
being admitted to the Union (1848). Nothing came of all this agitation
for a German State, except the very wide advertising which Wisconsin
obtained in Germany, as a State admirably suited for Germans, in soil,
climate, liberal constitution, and low prices for lands, and as
possessing social attractions for them, because it had early obtained an
unusually large German population.
The counties near Milwaukee were the first to receive German settlers.
This movement began about 1839, and was very rapid. Soon after that,
Sauk and Dane counties became the favorites for new arrivals. Next,
immigrants from Germany went to the southwestern counties, about Mineral
Point, and northward into the region about Lake Winnebago and the Fox
River. By 1841 they had spread into Buffalo county, and along the
Mississippi River; but since 1860 they have chiefly gone into the north
central regions of the State, generally preferring forest lands to
prairies. The first arrivals were mainly from the valley of the Rhine;
next in order, came people from southern Germany; but the bulk of the
settlers are from the northern and middle provinces of their native
land.
The principal Swiss groups in Wisconsin are in Green, Buffalo, Sauk,
Fond du Lac, and Taylor counties. That at New Glarus, in Green county,
is one of the most interesting. In the sterile little mountainous
canton of Glarus, in Switzerland, there was, about 1844, much distress
because of over population; the tillable land was insufficient to raise
food for all the people. It was, therefore, resolved by them to send
some of their number to America, as a colony.
Two scouts were first dispatched, in the spring of 1845, with
instructions to find a climate, a soil, and general characteristics as
nearly like Switzerland as possible. These agents had many adventures as
they wandered through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, before finally
selecting Green county, Wisconsin, as the place best suited for their
people.
It was supposed that those left behind would wait until a report could
be sent back to them. But one hundred ninety-three of the intending
emigrants soon became restless, and started for America only a month
later than the advance guard. The party had a long and very disagreeable
journey, down the Rhine River to the seaport, where after many sore
trials they obtained a vessel to take them across the Atlantic. This
ship was intended for the accommodation of only one hundred forty
passengers; but nearly two hundred crowded into it, and had a
tempestuous and generally disheartening passage of forty-nine days, with
insufficient food.
At last, reaching Baltimore, they proceeded by canal boat to the foot of
the Alleghanies, crossed the mountains by a crude railway, and then
embarked in a steamer down the Ohio River, bound for St. Louis. After
their arrival at that city, there ensued a long and vexatious search
for the scouts, who, not expecting them, had left few traces behind. But
perseverance finally won, and by the middle of August all of these weary
colonists were reunited in the promised land of New Glarus, five
thousand miles away from their native valleys.
The experience of the first few years was filled with privations,
because these poor Swiss, fresh from narrow fields and small shops at
home, did not comprehend the larger American methods of farming, with
horse and plow. But, by the kindness of their American neighbors, they
finally learned their rude lessons; and, soon adopting the profitable
business of manufacturing Swiss cheese, by thrift and industry they in
time succeeded in making of New Glarus one of the most prosperous
agricultural regions in Wisconsin.
It is estimated that in Green county there are now eight thousand
persons of Swiss birth, or the descendants of Swiss, about one-third of
the entire population. The language which they still use in business
affairs is the German-Swiss dialect.
[Illustration: FIRST NORWEGIAN CHURCH]
The first Norwegian immigrants to America arrived in 1825, after some
strange adventures on the ocean, and settled in the State of New York;
this was before Wisconsin was ready for settlers. From 1836 to 1845,
thousands of Norwegians came to Illinois and Wisconsin, their first
settlement in Wisconsin being made in 1844, in the town of Albion, Dane
county. They are now scattered quite generally over the State, in large
groups, with hundreds of ministers and churches, and many newspapers;
but they are still strongest in Dane county, where, probably, there are
not less than fourteen thousand who were either born in Norway or are
the children of Norwegian-born parents.
The Belgians are closely massed in certain towns of Door, Kewaunee, and
Brown counties, in the northeastern portion of the State. The beginning
of their immigration was in 1853, when ten families of the province of
Brabant, in Belgium, determined to move to America, where they could win
a better support for themselves, and suitably educate their children.
The vessel in which they crossed the Atlantic was forty-eight days in
sailing from Antwerp to New York, the passage being tedious and rough,
accompanied by several terrific hurricanes. The poor pilgrims suffered
from hunger and thirst, as well as sickness, and lost one of their
number by death.
It was while on board ship that the majority decided to settle in
Wisconsin, and upon landing, hither they promptly came. Arriving in
Milwaukee, they knew not what part of the State was best suited for
them; but began to prospect for land, and finally settled near Green
Bay, simply because a large portion of the population of that village
could speak French, which was their own language. At first they had
determined to locate near Sheboygan, but were annoyed at not being able
to make themselves understood by the inhabitants of that place. The
little band of Belgians was at last established within rude log huts, in
the heart of a dense forest, ten miles from any other human habitation,
without roads or bridges, or even horses or cattle. They experienced the
worst possible inconveniences and hardships naturally appertaining to
life in the frontier woods, and for the first year or two the colony
seemed in a desperate condition. Its hopeful members, however, hiding
their present misery, sent cheerful letters home, and enticed their old
neighbors either to join them, or to form new settlements in the
neighborhood. In due time, the Belgians of northeastern Wisconsin became
prosperous farmers and merchants.
Similar tales might be related, of the great difficulties and hardships
bravely overcome by several other foreign groups in Wisconsin: for
instance, the Poles, the Dutch, the Welsh, the Bohemians, the Cornishmen
of the lead-mine region, and the Icelandic fishermen of lonely
Washington Island. But the foregoing will suffice to show of what sturdy
stuff our foreign-born peoples are made, and cause us to rejoice that
such material has gone into the upbuilding of our commonwealth.